


Watercolor

by Maverick



Category: Shelter (2007)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-06-04
Updated: 2010-06-04
Packaged: 2017-10-09 22:06:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/92110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maverick/pseuds/Maverick





	Watercolor

"So you think the jeans are okay?"

Shaun straightened the collar on Zach's dark blue button-down shirt before leaning in to kiss his temple. "Yes. They're fine. You could show up in a grass skirt and probably nobody would bat an eye."

Zach cocked an eyebrow. "Grass skirt?"

Laughing, Shaun slid his hands into the back of Zach's well worn jeans. "First thing that popped into my mind. But what I'm saying is that you're an artist, you're expected to be a little out there. And the best piece of advice my publicist ever gave me was to own the moment."

Zach looked up at Shaun and smiled. "Now her I could see in a grass skirt. Explain 'own the moment' oh master of mine."

"Be yourself. Be comfortable. God knows you're going to be nervous enough, so there's no reason for you to show up looking like you're playing dress up. You earned this show Zach. Enjoy it."

Zach let himself be pulled into a tight hug. "Enjoy's a bit of a stretch I think."

Shaun pulled back and began massaging Zach's shoulders. "Well how about this: since we don't have to pick Cody up from his sleepover until noon tomorrow, you make it through the show and we'll go out for a night time surf afterward."

"We haven't done that in a while."

Zach and Cody had been the incentive Shaun needed to finally start paddling out in L.A., but they mostly spent their time on the beach with Cody. He wouldn't change their life for anything, but it would be nice to spend the night just the two of them and the waves. Shaun leaned in and gave Zach a reassuring kiss. "It's a date, then. You're gonna do great Zach."

Zach nodded and pulled Shaun into one last hug. "I'll see you in a few hours."

Shaun smiled. "I'll be there."

~*~*~*~

Shaun wiped his palms against his grey dress pants for the fourth time since he arrived at the gallery. He could feel the white cotton of his dress shirt sticking to his back more from his nerves than from the heat. Hell, he hadn't been this nervous at his own book signing. But this was Zach's first big show and he wanted everyone to see what a tremendous talent his boyfriend was. Deep down he knew that everything would turn out right, but it was like waiting to crest the first big wave of a good break. It was exciting and terrifying and if he felt this way, he could only imagine what Zach was going through. He walked through the gallery intent on finding Zach, but he found himself caught up in Zach's artwork just like he always did.

Zach's work had evolved over the last year. If he was good before -- which Shaun would be the first to agree that he was -- the stuff he was doing now what phenomenal. He was piercing his work with vivid splashes of color that made them almost jump off the canvas. It was like something that had been dormant inside Zach had woken up with a vengeance, and it gave his work so much depth it was almost painful for Shaun to think about how long Zach had kept it buried.

Shaun wasn't sure if anyone else looking at the paintings would understand the code behind them, but he did. They didn't talk about it, but Shaun knew that red was love. It was the setting sun over two lone surfers watching from a bluff, it was a ball cap on the head of a boy riding piggyback in a grocery store, and it was the outline of two men wrapped up in white sheets finding what was missing in each other.

If red sat in the abstract, then yellow was the reality of sadness and loss. It was the color of Zach's mom's bathrobe as worn out and tired as she was near the end. It was the color Jeannie's shirt as she closed the door to their house and walked away, never looking back. It was the toy truck that Cody clutched when he remembered he used to have a mom.

Green was Zach. It was his doubts and his art and freedom. Green was the refuge that Zach sometimes still retreated into when his past slammed into the present. It could be garish like a fading bruise or it could be as haunting as the ocean at twilight. It could be as bright as the jello Cody loved to eat or as muted as the moss battered against the jutted rocks of the dunes. It was the color of Shaun's shirt that Zach wore more often than he did.

Shaun's favorite painting combined the best of all three of the colors. But it was dominated by the bright blue of a balloon drifting into the air. That blue was possibility, it was the hope of the boy Cody was growing into, of the boy Zach never got to be. It was the family they were building day by day, color by color.

"Figured I'd find you here."

Shaun looked up and smiled. He stepped forward and slid his hand into Zach's, twining their fingers together. "You know it's my favorite. And my God, Zach, all of these are amazing."

Zach ducked his head. "You're kinda biased."

Shaun squeezed his hand. "What did I say about learning to take a compliment?"

Zach turned so they were both facing Shaun's favorite painting. "I didn't say you were wrong, just biased."

Shaun laughed. "Quite the turnout."

"Yeah, all the paintings already have buyers. All but this one."

Shaun couldn't believe it. "What? This is the best one."

Zach smiled and leaned in close to Shaun. "I know, that's why I told them I wouldn't sell it. It's us Shaun. I can't put a price on that."

Shaun smiled, amazed -- seeing their future reflected in the blue of Zach's eyes.


End file.
